Chris Garlick thought he was suffering from flu-like symptoms on Saturday July 15 but hours after calling NHS direct, he was fighting for his life.

The 46-year-old was rushed to the intensive care unit at the royal Gwent Hospital in Newport by ambulance the next day, where doctors told him he had contracted meningococcal bacteria, which led to sepsis.

Chris said: ‘I couldn’t walk straight and the pain in my head was unbearable, and that’s the last thing I remember.’

Chris, pictured here with his family, pleaded with doctors to save his legs but in August he went into surgery to have both legs amputated (Picture: Media Wales)